The Rescuers

Like The Jungle Book, this 1977 Disney animated feature based on the books by Margery Sharp owes much of its charm to the distinguished voice cast, headed by Eva Gabor and Bob Newhart as the plucky Miss Bianca and the more cautious Bernard, two mice who are members of the Rescue Aid Society. The pair venture to the Devil's Bayou swamp (a fertile setting for the animators to create a memorable ensemble of comical and menacing swampland creatures) to rescue Penny, an orphan kidnapped by Madame Medusa (Geraldine Page), a villainess in the flamboyant tradition of Cruella De Vil. Jim Jordan (Fibber McGee on radio) is the voice of Orville, an albatross, while Joe Flynn (Captain Binghamton on McHale's Navy) is Medusa's much put-upon henchman. Boasting an excellent new digitally remastered transfer, this DVD debut includes a couple of entertaining extras: the '60s-vintage Disney wildlife short "Water Birds" (endearingly scratchy, evoking memories of classroom 16mm educational films), and the Silly Symphony cartoon "Three Blind Mouseketeers." Recommended. (K. Lee Benson)[Blu-ray Review—Aug. 28, 2012—Walt Disney, 156 min., G, $39.99—Making their first appearance on Blu-ray, 1977's The Rescuers (35th Anniversary Edition) and 1990's The Rescuers Down Under both feature fine transfers and DTS-HD 5.1 soundtracks. Bonus features include the 1952 True-Life Adventures short doc “Water Birds” (31 min.), a “making-of” featurette for The Rescuers Down Under (11 min.), the Silly Symphony short “Three Blind Mouseketeers” (9 min.), the deleted song “Peoplitis” (5 min.), the “Someone's Waiting for You” sing-along song (2 min.), and bonus DVD copies of the films. Bottom line: a fine Disney Blu-ray two-fer of these solid animated films.]